J for Jientje

Libby hated to do it, she said ... but she did it anyway.
She tagged me with this meme.
Here are the rules ...

1. Copy the questions from my post and paste them in a new post on your blog. Then type over my answers with yours.
2. Use the first letter of your first name to answer ALL of the following questions.
3. If the first letter of your name is the same as mine, use your middle or last name.
4. You CANNOT use any word twice, and you CANNOT use your own name for the boy/girl questions.
5. After you are done, tag 5 people.......

So, here we go:

1. What is your name?: Jientje. People often ask me how they should pronounce it.
Like the boy's name Gene, followed by "chu". "Gene-chu", that's how you say my name.
2. A four-letter word: joke
3. A boy's name: John
4. A girl's name: Joanne
5. An occupation: a janitor
6. A colour: Jade. Or would you prefer "Jaune de Joucas"?
Some of my early readers might remember this. I did this meme before.
It was in my early blogging days and I could not think of any colour starting with a J, so I made this one up!



7. Something you wear: .Jeans There's a sale going on at my local jeans store. Maybe I should buy a new one. I've lost some weight lately and I can remove the one I'm wearing now without even opening the zipper!!
8. A Food: Jumping Jackets, it's a recipe I've found with jacket potatoes and chicken. Click on the link to see the recipe. I thought the name was kind of cute and the recipe looks delicious, maybe it's worth a try huh?
9. Something found in the bathroom: Jill Sander bodylotion. I think it has been there for fifteen years, and I don't even like it. Maybe it's time to say goodbye to it.
10. A place: Joucas, it's a little village in the south of France near Gordes and Roussillon.
Click this link for a little virtual tour of this beautiful place.
It's certainly going to be on my visiting list this summer.
11. A reason for being late: just as I wanted to leave the house the phone rang.
12. Something you shout: Jeeeez!
13. A movie title: Jaws. One, two Three, Three D, you name 'm!
13. Something you drink: Juice
15. An animal: a jaguar
16. A song title: Just the way you are, by Billy Joel, or Barry White. I love both versions.
17. A verb: to jump

That's it from me today.
I'm breaking rule number five though.
While I love doing meme's, I don't mind BEING tagged but I hate to tag someone.
Feel free to pick it up if you feel like it, just let me know so I can visit you, okay?

Fridays Fave Five, a Review of a Wonderful Week

It's time to look back on some of the favourite things from the past week again.
I love this meme, it's great to remember the good things in life.


1. I had my daughter over for supper last Friday evening.
The poor girl had been in a traffic jam for almost two hours just to get here, but it was worth it she said! I love it when she keeps me company in the kitchen while I cook.
I enjoyed every minute of it, even doing the dishes together is special to me...

2. The next day, my husband surprised me with my favourite perfume as a Valentine's day gift.
I had only a few drops left in my old bottle, and I was reluctant to use it. But now I can spoil myself again with a luxurious fragrant puff each morning ... Wonderful.

3. A champagne breakfast on Wednesday in a charming bed and breakfast hotel. Bacon and eggs, smoked salmon, fresh fruit salad, vanilla yoghurt, croissants crunchy baguettes ... It was all there, and everything was delicious.

( You can click to enlarge the image)


4. Snuggling up on the couch with the new book I bought. It turns out to be a very witty entertaining read. It's written by a Belgian biologist and it's based on Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory. A fascinating and very well written book.

5. And then last night we dined out again! A fun formula with small samples of food on tiny plates, tapa style. The tiny domed plates come rolling by ( like at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant) only it's not sushi but Basquish pinxtos. And you have to use your fingers to eat it.
Delicious and fun!


So there, those are just a few of last week's happy moments.
Go here to read more Fave Five posts.

The Interview. My Answers.

There is this new and exciting meme going on in the blogospere.
The idea is to interview one another.
I first saw it at Maggie's blog, where Lou picked it up.
And when Lou answered his questions I asked him to interview me.
If you want to be interviewed by me, tell me in a comment and I'll send you five new questions. Not necessarily the same ones I'm answering here.

Want to be part of it? Follow these instructions:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone

else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them
five questions.

You have to link back to the original post

(http://maggiesmind.blogspot.com/2009/01/ive-got-answers.html)
and also to Lou's post

(http://louceel.blogspot.com/2009/01/questions-and-answers.html)
and to mine.

So here are the questions Lou sent me.

1-What is your favourite childhood memory?

Now, a lot of my childhood memories are very blurry, they are no more than scraps and fragments, but the most vivid ones are from the holidays I spent with my grandparents.
I adored my grandmother, she was a very sweet person.
They lived from their land and the few animals they had.
My grandmother and I were always together. One day, we made our daily trip to the barn to collect the chicken's eggs. I had my skipping rope with me and when I started jumping, my grandmother said she wanted to try it too. Despite being rather overweight she was also a very playful woman. She started jumping the rope but she had forgotten all about the eggs until they came oozing out of the pockets of her apron. I can still see her face, and how we both cracked up laughing about the omelet in her pockets.
(This should answer the question, but if you're in the mood for more, there's another beautiful story I've written on this blog once about lollipops and candy. It's here if you want to read it.

2-Who is the person you most admire - that is alive today?

There are many people I admire. I have a huge admiration for ballet dancers because of the way they control every muscle of their body. But I could not name one at the moment, and my idol Rudolf Noureev died years ago.
On a very different level, there is this blogger friend of mine who is going through chemotherapy right now. I know there are probably millions of people like that every day, but I don't know if I would have her courage and her strength if I had to go through this the second time around.
She was diagnosed with a totally different type of cancer than the first time. She said it felt like falling off a ladder and having to climb all the way back up again when she first heard the diagnose. But she is climbing. Step by step, day by day. Without ever complaining.
She's the person I most admire this present day.

3. If you could live anywhere, where would that be?

Hmmm, difficult.
To make it my home, I would have to understand and speak the native language.
That rules out countries in Eastern Europe, or Asia.
But there are so many places in this world I would love to go to.
I have friends all over the globe through blogging and I would love to see for real what life in their corner of the world is like. But if I have to choose a permanent place to reside it would have to include blue skies and sun. And warmth. There for Canada and Alaska would be no option. Islands like Hawai and Tasmania, - however beautiful- would be too small after a while I think. Not enough to photograph I'm afraid?
I'm not sure if the States would be an option, it's so different to Europe?
The cultural history, the food ... people's ways ...

On a long term basis I would probably end up missing Europe too much.
I would most likely stay in Europe but move a little bit further South. I love the Provence in France and it already feels like home because of the many holidays we have spent there.
I like the French way of living, especially in the South.
Much more easy going and relaxed. They say "bonjour" and they MEAN it.
Nothing like the commercial song
"hi how are you-but-I-don't-care-shit"
they did in Disney when I was there. Sorry but that's how it felt to me?
So yes, hmmm, France would sound right. Or Italy, if it was not for the language barrier.
But who knows, I might even learn Italian one day? Never say never?

4-What do you like to eat when you're feeling 'down'?

Anything ready to eat that is easily available and hiding in my drawers somewhere.
It has to be crunchy, you know like cookies or crisps. Chocolate is good too, but it has to have some bite to it, you know like that white chocolate with puffed rice in it? Or chocolate cookies?
And I have been known to attack a box of corn flakes when I was in a real desperate mood!
If I'm really unhappy I will eat sweet things first, and then switch to salty or hearty stuff like crackers or crisps ... and then back to the cookies again. Oooooo!

And because I liked this question best when Maggie asked me -

5-What do you like most about being a woman?

I like being a woman, and I would not in any way want to behave or be ( like) a man.
Although I sometimes wonder what a man feels when he makes love to a woman.
Anyway, that's besides the point, I'm just being curious but that's a feminine quality too right?
I'm glad I know what it's like to have life inside of me and give birth, and be a mother
but there are so many women out there who have never experienced this and still they are women.
So, to me being a woman is not just that. And it's not about dressing up and wearing high heels and make up to get men's attention either. (Although I do love attention.)
I enjoy all things feminine, you know, do the cooking and the baking while the man is out hunting? Yep, I love it. Call me old fashioned perhaps?

To my opinion, men and women complete one another. Male strength versus female tenderness and softness. I like being the girl and have a shoulder to cry on or a strong arm around me.

But what I like most about being a woman is that in the end we are a lot tougher than we look.



So there ... I hope you liked my answers. I enjoyed answering them.

A Photo a Day and a Review.

I stumbled across a neat idea for a post when I was catching up on my reading yesterday.
Well, actually there were two but I'll tell you more about the second one after this, okay?
I'll start with what I found on Willow's cottage.
She posted a review of the year using one picture a season.
Like the four seasons? I thought this was very inspiring.

My review will go back to when I first started taking pictures, which was Autumn 2007, through to Summer 2008. All of these pictures were taken with my previous camera, a Canon Powershot S45. I nicked it from my husband and took my first steps into Photography with it.
I discovered my camera AND myself along the way.
The encouragement I got from my readers made me try harder each week...

So here comes my review.



This was taken on one of the very first photowalks I made with my husband.
I had joined Nablopomo, and needed pictures for my very first photo meme, Weekly Winners.
Up until then I had always hated Autumn, this was the first time I discovered the beauty of it.


I hated Autumn, and Winter even more.
I would never have gone out on a cold Winter's day before if it had not been for the love of photography that became more important each week.
I was only just discovering my camera and had found new ways of looking at the world through pictures. I had seen lovely reflections on other people's blogs and started looking for them myself.

Ooooo, I love Spring. Spring has got to have a picture of the breeding Great Tits on my patio.
( Does that sound funny? )
This is one of the first times I could capture one as he/she flies to the nest.

Summer.
My favourite season. I had only recently discovered the macro function on my camera.
While on holiday in Provence, I practised a lot and this was one of my first successes.

Those were my first steps. After that I visited London in August, and that's when my beloved little camera died on me. Well, it turned out it did not really die, it just passed into a coma!
That was terrible, but my husband bought me a new one.
The small one still works after all, and I still use it (in the kitchen) every now and again.
I plan on doing another review, maybe next week or so.
I will then use pictures taken with the new camera.

Next up is a new meme Gail will be hosting called a photo a day 2009.
The idea is to post a picture a day, a great challenge to master your camera AND make some sort of a calender with images of the little and the big moments in your life.
I really like that idea.
So this is my first picture.
Yeah I know. It's FOOD! AGAIN!!
It was a chocolate heart, it tasted delicious and it was worth remembering.
The picture isn't. Nah. Not really, but hey?
I'll try better tomorrow?
Isn't that what this meme is all about?

A Christmas Meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Most of the gifts we buy in Belgium are gift wrapped at the shops when you purchase them.
I used to own a gift shop of my own a couple of years ago and my customers loved to offer gifts from my shop because of the pretty wrapping. By the time Christmas arrived, I had wrapped thousands of presents, big, tiny or small! I would have preferred gift bags back then, there's a lot less work involved!
If I wrap a gift myself, it has to have a pretty bow made with real ribbons, not the cheap frilly things that are so popular here.

2. Real tree or artificial?

There would have been a time where I would have opted for a real one, a huge big tree filling the house with that wonderful Christmassy scent, wonderful! BUT we live in an apartment with only a very narrow spiral staircase ...
Impossible to get a big tree like that up -( or down, that's even worse when it starts to loose it's needles!) - those stairs, so I use a fake one now.

3. When do you put up the tree?

I'm late this year, I usually put it up the second week of December and I leave it until after my husband's birthday, which is January 15th. That's another reason why I need an artificial one!

4. Wreath on your door?

My front door is on the first floor, and there is a decoration on it.
Only, it's not a wreath but a welcome sign with a reindeer on it.

5. Do you like eggnog?
I always thought eggnog was similar to our advokaat which is made with egg yolks, sugar and alcohol, but it's not. Not REALLY, anyway. Eggnog contains milk and cream, advokaat does not, and it's thicker. Advokaat is often served with ice cream, pancakes or waffles, or in a little glass to enjoy with a coffee. I had that yesterday, mmmm.



6. Favourite Xmas gift received as a child?
We used to get the toys and the fun stuff from Sint Niklaas.
At Christmas we got the practical, useful things.
Stuff like underwear and pyjama's and socks, no fun getting that when you're seven or eight!

7. Easiest person to buy for?
My nephew. He has a wish list with every possible detail.



8. Least easiest?
My husband. He never has any special wishes, and he has no real hobbies.
He likes chocolate and sweets, but we're trying to loose weight!
I'll probably end up buying him shirts or something.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes. My Boyds Bears nativity scene.
I put my three wise men on a boat, isn't that cute?



10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Both I guess. But I suck at sending Christmas cards!
I usually end up sending them halfway through January or something!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
A Senseo coffee machine.
I am a coffee lover, but already had a regular coffee machine and an espresso machine when I got it! My kitchen counter is not big enough to house three different types of coffee machines!

12. Favourite Christmas Movie?
Something from Disney.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
A couple of days before Christmas? Eww, I know, I'm terrible!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
No. I mean, YES. The Senseo Coffee machine.

15. Open presents on Christmas eve or morning?
When the family gets together to have our Christmas party, there's no real set date, this year it's going to be on the 4th of January!

16. Lights on the tree?
Lots and lots of lights!

17. Favourite Christmas song?
We have the loudspeakers of the shopping street right next to our living room window.
I hear Christmas music ALL DAY. Need I say more?

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
I prefer to stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?
I'm sorry, we're not very familiar with them in Belgium, I'm afraid.
I know Rudolf, that's a start isn't it?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
A have an antique ornament, but it looks nothing like an angel or a star.

21. Favourite thing to eat at Christmas?
Nothing in particular really, although my family requested me
to bake Christine's peppernuts again this year!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

Crowded shops. I know I should do my Christmas shopping a little bit earlier, I know!

23. Favourite Tree ornament, theme or colour?

I like different themes each year.
Last year I did snowy roses and glass and I liked that a lot!



24. Favourite for Christmas dinner?

No real traditions in our home, maybe some game or something.
I really love venaisson.

25. Brussels Sprouts - love or hate them?

Brussels Sprouts are no delicacy where I come from.
They're just ordinary every day vegetables.
Every child hates them, I used to too, but now I like them a lot, but NEVER in my right mind am I going to serve them at Christmas! Okay, ... I should never say never, you're right about that too!

26. Favourite accompaniment to the Christmas Pud?

Christmas pudding is not a Belgian tradition either.
But I've tasted it, and I would serve custard with it, we call that Crème Anglaise.

27. Favourite Christmas Carol?

Silent night, holy night.

28. Your very Favourite Christmas Thing?

The lights and the decorations in the the streets.
But my absolute favourites are the dangling Santa's. They really make me smile!
Everybody seems to want to have one dangling from their window or balcony!

29. A Christmas wish!

Good health and happiness to all the people.

30. Tag six people?
Sorry, I don't do the tagging bit.
I nicked this from someone, and I don't even remember who!
Feel free to take it if you want to!

Seven random Things ....

Since I have not told much about myself lately,
I decided to pick up the meme I found at Lou's blog yesterday.
You know, where you are supposed to tell seven random things about yourself?
Okay, so here we go ...



1. I love to cook and my bookshelves at home are crammed with cookbooks.
I own hundreds of them, since I've been collecting them
over twenty five years now.
2. But I never really obey one single recipe.
I'm always changing things because it does not feel or sound right.
3. And when I do obey a recipe, it usually turns out wrong.
4. So over the years, I 've decided I better follow my own gut feeling,
but that does not keep me from buying new cookbooks.
Or magazines.


5. I would hate to have to kill things I want to eat
and I don't think I could ever kill anything with blood in it,
but I must have killed about half a dozen of lobsters in my life I think.
6. That sounds like a lot, but bear in mind that I'm fifty one by now.
So that would make one lobster every eight and a half years.
I'm sure lobsterhood can survive that, don't you think?
7. Okay. Maybe about a hundred little cray fish as well.
And one crab. He was still alive when I locked him in my freezer.

Am I a serial killer now?

Ruby Tuesday The Pink House with the Red Door

This is going to be an unusually long post for Ruby Tuesday today,
because there are a couple of things I need to do and say today.
I'll start with the pictures of course!

This series of pictures will make at least one of my readers very happy.
This doorknob symbolizes to me just how small
our world has become in this Internet era.
You' ll see what I mean in a minute, allow me to tell you this amazing story.

I once took some pictures in Goult, posted them
on this blog, and somebody from the other side of the world
sends me an e mail saying she once rented a house in Goult.
She had blogged about it she said. I searched the post in her archives,
and to my great surprise saw the picture she published with that post.


Of course I knew that house, I had taken the photo below last year.
The "Deux Chevaux" in front of it made it so French
that I had not been able not resist the picture!

So this year, I went up to Goult again to take pictures
of "our" house, just like I promised to Evelyn.
This time there were two very unattractive cars
in front of the house ruining full view of the house.
I had to stick to some details for my pictures.
When I stepped past the cars to make the doorknob picture,
I found this ... "layabout" right there on the doorstep!





She just could not be bothered, she didn't move an inch.




She hardly blinked an eye ...

Both me and my husband were taking pictures in the end,
but even that did not disturb her in the slightest.

I think that this was a story worth sharing?
And Ruby Tuesday pictures to go along with it!


Next up is a meme, Mary the teach tagged me with.

the rules: All you have to do is Google your first name
with the word needs behind it and post the first 10 results.
Don't forget to tag people (if you are the tagging sort)!
I thought this one is fun doing so here we go ...

1. Jientje needs to get dressed.
2. The second one says that Skynet needs Jientje.
3. Jientje needs comments.
4. Jientje needs a meme.
5. Jientje needs to go all over Vegas with "poopy" hands!
6. Jientje needs to bring the wine to toast Nikki's birthday.
7. Jientje needs, nay demands answers!
8. Jientje needs to feel appreciated.
9. Jientje needs a break now.
10. Jientje needs a cat.

I already have a cat, thank you very much!
If I need a break, I'll get one, but since I don't have to
go to work for two weeks, I'm fine thank you!
No matter how much I love to travel,
and how much fun it would be to go to Vegas one day,
I don't think I'd want to do it with "poopy" hands!
I think I know what gave Mr Google that idea,
but I will leave that to somebody else!
And I'm not the demanding type either, so ...
Am I the tagging type? Well, that depends ...
I'll tag anyone who wants to be tagged for this meme,
AND the ones that are tagged below here,
so hang on to your hats!

But let me tell you, parts of it are true.
It's nice to get comments, and to feel appreciated.
Memes are fun to do, you get to meet so many new friends by doing them.
Why do you think I am doing this Ruby Tuesday meme in the first place?
Because I like pictures, and because I like people!

Speaking of friends ...
Mary the teach gave me this Blogging Friends Forever Gold Card.
And I am honoured to say the least!
It's so nice to feel appreciated, and it's so nice to meet friends,
both in real life and on the Internet.
And even though we may be worlds apart,
friendship does exist on the Internet!
So thank you Mary!!!

I'm going to pass it on right now,
but there are just a couple of rules I need to follow:

1. You have to tag 5 people.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog
3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog
and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

Okay, picking just five people really is the hard part for me,
there is always somebody who deserves it too
and gets to be the one being left out!
So please please please, don't be mad at me, I promise I'll pick you next time.

The four dedicated followers are not that hard.
They are the four readers I met doing Nablopomo,
their comments still make me smile, every time they drop by.
So ...
Christine
Alida
Eve
and SandyC.
My sweet sweet friends from the early days.
Big hug to you girls, come and pick up your gold card,
it's one from the heart!

As for the new dedicated reader, I'm proud to say
I have a couple of them,
and that makes it very hard to pick just one, for I love you all!
But I have awarded some of them only last week,
so that kind of narrows down the possibilities
After careful consideration ** gasp**
( this is SO hard, I am a Libra you know, ewww!)
... drum rolls ...
Tink, at my mobile adventures.
She lives in Florida, and shows the most awesome pictures
of Disney world, among other things!
I was in Disney world Florida a long time ago
and it feels like I'm visiting it all over again through her blog.



That's it from me today, this was hard work!!!
I hope you had fun!
Don't forget to visit the others at Mary's Work of the Poet

Confessions of a blog addict

I have a confession to make.
One I'll probably regret in the near or the not so near future, I don't know? ( I'm sure!)
I'll probably get an avalanche of them ...
Yes, (come to think of it), I 'll (most certainly)/(probably) will drown in them one day!
I'll have huge desk drawers stuffed with them...
They will probably keep me awake at night! (I sincerely hope not!)

But as for now reading a comment on this blog saying "you're being tagged"
makes my heart jump!
It flushes adrenalin down my veins, and a certain calm descends upon me ...
( I know ... it all happens at the same time ....
Yes I know it's not logical from a medical point of view, but that's what happens!
I must be the most unimaginative blogger ever, to be happy with a meme,
... but I am!
At least I'll know what to write about.
Having made my vows to do 365,
( for better or for worse, remember?)
it comes in handy to get some or other assignment!
That's why I find it very thoughtfull of PG to tag all /(some?) 365-fools with this!

You know, being tagged with this one, I can post something really silly
and not being held responsible for it?
It was not really my idea was it? Hehehehe!

Okay, okay I'll cut the crap!
Let's get down to business!

1. Pick up the nearest book ( of at least 123 pages).

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people. & post a comment here once you post it to your blog, so I can come see.

Now let's see?
I think I'll do number five first! That's the fun part !!!
Make someone happy with a meme!!!
The nominees are ...
all who happens to read this.
And I'll keep the names of the real winners to myself for a little while longer! (BIG GRIN!)
I can hear Sandy yelling ... oh you're such a tease!!!
Right Sandy?
Right!

Okay, okay, I'll cut it again ( that crap I mean!)
I have even gone through the trouble of shooting a picture.
You know, just in case one of you would not believe me?


Now folks, look at this ... what do you see?
The nearest book?
Can you read the titles?
Can you see the post I'm working on?
Can you see the picture of my cat burgling the fridge?
Okay.
The nearest book...
Since I am lefthanded, that would be the Oxford Wordpower Dictionary.
You see, where I come from we speak Dutch.
Or Flemish. That's almost the same.

I was foolish enough to join 365,
and write a post every day in a foreign language !
I'm not kidding, you know ... that's why the nearest book is a dictionary!

Page 123 ... let's see ...
Chickens!
There is a drawing of a cock, a chick and a hen!
I'll count them as the first five sentences.
Underneath the drawing it says :
CHICKENPOX/noun [U] a desease, especially of children. When you have chickenpox you feel very hot and get red spots on your skin that make you want to scratch.

There!
What do you think?
I loved it!

And now for the fun part! I love this even more!
Tagging ... * insert drumroll*
Christine, those chickens made me do it!
Eve, she's doing 365 too
Storyteller, who is in on it as well!
Julie, I hope nobody else tagged her yet!
And Chando, because this is a very suitable meme for a librarian!

And I am letting Sandy off the hook, she will get tagged in due time I'm sure!
In fact she already wears that meme crown! That same meme is up there as well!

There, that's all my crap for today!
* drumroll again please? *

Meme time!!

I was tagged with this meme by Andie ....
Here we go!

This is the internet space at the hotel in Morocco


What is your blogging name?

Jientje. I explained why in one of my first posts on this blog.
It's a diminuative for Jane, sort of. You can think of me as Jeany, but call me Jientje?

My little sister Bientje and me, in the study at my appartement.

When did you start blogging, exact date?

I started blogging on Christmas day 2006. (On my Skynet Belgian blog that is.)
I don't think I was one of many that day!
I needed my sister's assistance to get me started, and that was not easy because we do not live across the street from each other anymore. A few minutes before midnight on Christmas day I wrote my very first post! Less than a year later I started my Heaveninbelgium blog on Blogspot.
It was towards the end of Nablopomo that I felt that I did not want to leave my English speaking friends! I used the Nablopomo platform to guide them to my new blog! And they followed me!
I'm very happy for that!

What was your first title?
My first title on that blog was " het kon niet uitblijven" wich means something like " It could not be stopped!"
On this blog it was "I finally did it ... now what?"

Which posting do you feel is the best post so far?
Now that we've found love what are we gonna do with it?
I wrote it when I had just joined 365. I think it's one of the most hilarious posts I have ever written! And everybody admitted it ... every word is true!
Most read according to the stats is "How to make lace".
And I like the meme with the J's too ...

My mom and dad, writing a new entry together.

Who is the source of inspiration for you to blog?
My little sister inspired me to start blogging, I had never heard of a blog before!

My little sister and me, at the hotel lobby in London.

When do you usually post entries ?
I usually write something in the evening the previous day, and edit / post them in the morning.

The hotel lobby in London again, my other sister Lena and me.

Where would you prefer to be when you are blogging?
On my couch with my cat purring next to me.

Have you met other bloggers? Who?
Not in this blogosphere. On my Skynet blog in Belgium I've met several friends already.
The tour at the cathedral I did recently was guided by one of my blogging friends.

My Belgian blogging friend Nana, the first blogger I met in real life.

How many entries you made in a month?
I have posted every day in 2007 on my Skynetblog, I did Nablopomo on the side.
And now I have this blog AND my Skynetblog. I post every day of the year, on both of them!
Yeah!!!! I know!

Would you reveal your face or your family in your blog?
I don't see why not?

This is where I blog.

Would you promote your friends to blog? Why?
No. It's not because I like to blog that everybody has to start blogging!
I prefer meeting new friends, in real life OR in the blogosphere.

Would you feel restless / guilty conscious, incomplete if you didn’t blog for a month?
Oh yes, I would! Although sometimes it's a little bit stressy to produce something entertaining or worth reading every day, it's also very stimulating, so...

Define blogging!
Writing a letter to all of your friends, every day.
Looking forward to read their letters, and receiving their comments.
Meeting new friends along the way...

I'm skipping the tagging bit today, but if anybody is interested, feel free to do one!
Let me know, I'll come and visit!

Tagged ..... again!!!!!!!!!!

I got tagged with a meme again!
I know, I still owe the one Korie tagged me with, at the beginning of Nablopomo!
Shhhhhhhh, I know, Nablopomo was in November, you're so right!!!!
But I didn't even know what a meme was back then!
I had never heard of them before and I already got tagged!
Perhaps I should not have brought this one up any more, but hey ...
I'm always much too honest, I know!
And then there's still the one Andie tagged me with, "seven things I approve of".
She said it would be easy, but it isn't, well at least I don't think it is.
(But I've found the right solution for that one, I think! I am going to tag myself with the one she has published today! It looks so much easier! I hope she approves??

The other one does not inspire me at all, I don't know where to start?
Seven things I approve of?
I looked it up ... the dictionary says, things that I consider good, fair, or right! Sigh!
I am a Libra!!! There is always something good, but then again, there might be some downside to it as well, and I do not approve of everything just like that, you know???
Any Libra's in the audience that can relate to that? How do I solve this? Can anyone help me?
... Sigh!!!
Anyway ...
Christine tagged me yesterday, and I decided to do this one RIGHT AWAY!
If you don't do them at once, you'll find your drawers stuffed with them!

Here’s how it works: Use the first letter of your name to answer each question. Must be places or names…Nothing made up. Can’t use your own name for boy/girl’s name question. If you can’t answer, skip to next one.

1. Famous Singer: That would be a John, or a Jim, or a Joan! Okay, I'll choose Joe ...
Joe Cocker!
I love his raw voice and his spastic moves.
Plus ... he's a real gentleman, you can always leave your hat on!

2. Four Letter Word: Jeez!!!!!

3. Street: Jezusstraat. It's in Antwerp.
One of the first streets I learned to find when I moved there.

4. Colour: Jaune de Joucas. Jaune de Joucas looks like this ...
It's a very special yellow-ish kind of colour.

LOL!!! It's not, I just made that up, but I lost so much time browsing through paint colour collections! Boss, Dulux ... you name them, I've seen them!
Even Martha Stewart's site!

None of their poetic colour names started with a J, so ... I had to use my own imagination.
I know it's against the rules, but I had to come up with something didn't I?
Of course I could also just have said Jade, but that's not nearly as interesting as Jaune de Joucas. Right? Right!

5. Gifts/Present: Just another cookbook!
(Hehehe, I'm getting the hang of this! Whoeahahaha!)

6. Vehicle: This one's easy. A Jeep. I guess if you have to cross a desert to get to work, or a battlefield for that matter, they can be very useful. But since we have none of the above in Belgium, a car like that looks ridiculous to me here.

7. Things in Souvenir Shop: Junk? Or ... "soon to be" junk?
I worked in a souvenir shop once in Bruges! We sold
Manneken Piss corkscrews and all that kind of stuff ...
FYI ... Manneken Piss is very famous in Belgium.
Maybe I should tell you a bit more about him someday ...

8. Boy Name: Jantje. It's like John, only a smaller, Belgian version.

9. Girl Name: Jientje!! Hehehe, I already explained that one earlier!
Shit!! That does not count huh? ( I just read the rules.. a little bit late huh?)
Okay ...
Ahhhmmm, Julie. Julie, we have Julie's over here too!
Julie and her mom shop at the cheese shop where I work every Wednesday afternoon.
Julie it is!

10. Movie title: Jaws. In fact, there are lots of movies named Jaws!
Jaws 1, Jaws 2, Jaws 3, Jaws 3D ... Need I go on?

11.Drink: Judas, it's a Belgian beer.

12. OCCUPATION: Jailor. My father was one. I looked it up...

• The work can be stressful and hazardous.
• Most correctional officers are employed in State and local government prisons and jails.
• Job opportunities are expected to be excellent.
  

13. Celebrity: John Mc Enroe. I used to love to see him get into an argument about the ball!

14. Magazine: Journal de la cuisine. French cuisine.

15. City: Juan les Pins. It's in France, at the côte d' azur. They have an very special event coming up, in the month of february, Pain... Amour et Chocolat.
Translated in English it just does not have that same "zing"! Bread, love and chocolate.

16. Sports: Jumping. I think that it's the only sport I can bare to watch for more than half an hour.

17. Fruit: Junior Pineapple. It's bigger than a baby pineapple, and smaller than a regular one!
Hehehe, clever huh?

18. Reason for Being Late to work: Just as I was leaving the appartment I remembered I still had to feed the cat!

19. Something that you throw away: Junk you bought in a souvenir shop in Belgium
Those Manneken Piss corkscrews perhaps?

20. Something you shout: Jeeeeeeeeeezus!! I did it!!! It's finished!!!


I am tagging .... Julie?
She is the one who gave me those beautiful flowers last week!
I want to take the opportunity to give them to Christine, Sandy and Eve as well!!
Thanks, you're such great friends!!

Weekly Winners A walk in the park

This Weekly Winners sunday meme is the brainchild of Lotus Elliot, AKA Sarcastic Mom!
Shooting pictures together gives us a reason to go out and visit nice locations.
Last Sunday, we took a walk in the park.

Shadows ...

I'm still standing ...



Shades of blue and green ...

Never let you go ...
Looking up,
looking down,
reflections in the water ...


and hungry ducks ...

By the way, that lady is not me, I was the one taking the pictures remember?
I'm already looking forward to next week!
Please visit the others as well!

See you all again next week, enjoy your weekend!